Cork TD: Young TDs not taken as seriously as they should be

“People don’t take you as seriously as I feel they ought to when you are very young in politics.“

That’s according to Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East James O’Connor, who is one of 15 TDs in Dáil Éireann under the age of 35.

Mr O’Connor, who in 2020 became one of the youngest TDs ever elected to the Dáil, when he was 22, is now the Fianna Fáil spokesperson for transport.

Speaking to The Echo, the 27-year-old said that politics was on his agenda from an early age.

“People often ask me the question, and it does get under my skin, ‘Do you realise how privileged you are?’

“Every day is a privilege. Driving or walking through the gates of Leinster House is a very special feeling,” said Mr O’Connor.

“To go in to politics is an enormous commitment. Each person brings something very different to the table.

“From my point of view, growing up at home on a rural setting on a dairy farm, brought with it obligations, in terms of work and service, which has stayed with me in to my career in politics.

“But I always personally loved politics. I loved currant affairs, watching the news and seeing what was going on. It was always a passion of mine,” he added.

From a farming family based in Youghal, Mr O’Connor forged a pathway in to a career in politics from a young age.

He was first elected to Cork County Council for Midleton in 2019 and he has not looked back since.

“Coming in to the summer of 2018, I got a pain in my side and went off to hospital.

“And I had a procedure on my appendix,” Mr O’Connor said.

“I took a break for that year. After, I got a phone call from Frank O’Flynn, the county councillor for the Fermoy area, and he asked me would I consider standing in the local elections. At the time, I discussed it with my parents. They were not very happy and wanted me to go back to Trinity to finish out my degree. It took a long period of negotiations at home,” said Mr O’Connor.

“But I got on the ticket shortly after St Patrick’s Day in 2019. I was actually elected to Cork County Council in Cork that May, and elected as a TD the following February.

“So, it was a meteoric kind of rise at the start. I was very lucky that a lot of things fell in to place for me, supported by a wonderful family and wonderful friends, by neighbours, cousins, and relations and all that they have done for me.

“How appreciative I am. I don’t get a chance to say ‘thank you’ often enough, to be quite honest with you.”

Mr O’Connor said that getting projects over the line is among the things that he enjoys the most about his role as a TD.

“I have always enjoyed doing project-based work,” Mr O’Connor said. “Everybody is in politics for different reasons, and everybody stays in it for reasons as well that are unique to them.

“For me, I have always found that my motivation comes from working on the bigger picture. I don’t like parochial politics. It is often a criticism that is levelled against me by my critics.

“I take great pride in the fact that we have worked on capital infrastructure projects. Some of them are ongoing. Some have been completed and there are more in the pipeline,” said Mr O’Connor.

“Seeing as a 27-year-old, that does not own my own home. I am renting and I live at home with the parents on the farm, actually seeing more housing development and growth for my generation is very important to me.

“To be helping and having an active part in developments that change communities and give a new generation of people every chance of success in life is something that I take enormous inspiration from.”

Mr O’Connor, who has been a critic of party leader Micheál Martin, with whom he once interned, says he wants to make East Cork one of the best places in the country in which to live and work.

A TD’s workload can be heavy and the hours long. Mr O’Connor stressed the importance of obtaining and maintaining an adequate work-life balance.

“My family were very involved in thoroughbred breeding. So horse racing has been a big part of my Mam and Dad’s life.

“East Cork, I think, was once famously described by Oliver Callan, the mimic and comedian, who said it is all about horse racing and hurling, and he is right.

“Killeagh, of course, is Joe Deane country, as it is known around the country.

“There is a deep passion and love for the GAA.

“I am happiest when I am sitting in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, watching Cork play in the inter-county games in the championship and the league.

“So it has been fabulous to see my former schoolmate, Declan Dalton, and cousin, Seamus Harnedy, doing so well with the Cork hurlers in the last few years.

“GAA has been a big passion for us at home.

“I was never a wonderful GAA player, but I am a big supporter of the GAA.”